Not sure about the stoppage. Like so many fights in America the yank only needs a short period of sustained dominance for the ref to step in, and in this case McGregor could have continued. Also Mayweather's main defensive tactic throughout the fight was to turn his back on McGregor and wait for the ref to save him. You could see how frustrated McGregor was getting by this, but the ref made no attempt to stop it. Mayweather would have gone on to win it because McGregor was knackered, but it was a night when boxing was never going allow an upstart sport to win.
If the upstart had knocked Mayweather out, there'd be **** all the sport could have done about it, but he never came close. How relaxed did Mayweather look throughout? I'm not saying McGregor didn't do well, he surpassed my expectations, but he was nowhere near close to winning.
By the rules of boxing you don't have to win by a knockout and McGregor landed far more shots up until the last couple of rounds. Mayweather looked relaxed, but he barely landed a punch in the first 5 rounds. He seemed to have no answer to McGregor's extended guard and it was only when the Irishman dropped it (around the 6th round) that he lost control of the fight. To say McGregor was nowhere near close to winning is a bit unfair because whenever he put any real pressure on the ref allowed Mayweather to turn his back.
He wasn't in control anyway. McGregor was blowing out of his arse by the end of round two and his punches ceased to have any power after the first thirty seconds. He could have hurt Mayweather more by throwing marshmallows at him after the fourth.
In the previous post I wrote "Mayweather would have gone on to win it because McGregor was knackered." I'm not disputing Mayweather would have won it, only that McGregor lost control of the fight when he dropped his guard. If McGregor had been able to keep Mayweather at arms length throughout the fight there's a reasonable chance he could have won on points.
You mean like when San Marino hold out for 30 min against England, but eventually lose 7 goals to nil? It's a pointless statement.
Mayweather was well within himself and dictating the fight from the off without needing to throw a punch. The fight could have pretty much ended at what ever point Mayweather decided the crowd had got their money's worth.
In boxing you either win by a stoppage or points. You don't win by looking more relaxed or fighting within yourself. Boxing is also an accumulation of points per round, unlike football which is settled by goals, so comparing the two has no validity. McGregor took the early rounds (and should have had those points in the bag) and he also landed a lot more punches. He kept Mayweather at arms length very effectively with his extended left and it was only when he tired too much to keep the left up that Mayweather came back into it. Basically the fitter man won.
He didn't so much 'take' the first rounds, as have them given as part of Mayweathers game plan. He never kept Mayweather at bay either, as Mayweather just walked him down knowing McGregor had nothing in his arsenal to hurt him.
Let's just ignore everything else for a moment and assume this statement is correct, then whose fault is it that a 40 year old retiree who has spent recent years sitting on his sofa ****ing and eating Wotsits was fitter than a 28 year old current professional fighter at his physical peak?
McGregor is 29, Mayweather 40. Maybe Conor should wait until he is 40 and Floyd is 51 , nah, Mayweather would stil win easily.
